Analyzes the frequency of preschoolers' (N=250) spontaneous use of "thank you" while playing games with unfamiliar adults or peers. Findings indicate that girls and low socioeconomic status children said "thank you" spontaneously more often than boys and middle socioeconomic status children. Children said "thank you"…

Examined the speech patterns of three- to eight-year-old children. Results showed that the children most often used "ah" phenomena and unfilled pauses as do adults. "Ah" phenomena showed a significant increase with age, especially between five and six among the females. (SRT)

Native French speakers (N=56) were critical of French slang expressions spoken by French youths. A previous study found that the native speakers considered Americans' use of the same slang even less acceptable, suggesting the need for careful consideration of teaching such terms in French-language classrooms. (Author/CB)

An appellate court found that a college faculty member's use of offensive language in class was unprofessional, interfered with instruction, and not protected by principles of free speech and academic freedom. (MSE)

Describes an action research project in which primary school teachers helped their minority group students attend to the cohesive elements of texts as well as the conceptual context. (FL)

Reports findings of a study that investigated the relationship between boys' reading ability and their use of specialized linguistic features in oral story telling. Contains transcripts of stories told by some subjects in the study. (FL)

Presents findings from an empirical study comparing the status of the German minority in the Italian South Tyrol and the Croatian minority in the Austrian Burgenland. The article analyzes observations of actual language use in schools and compares school authorities, curricula, and employment opportunities of the two minorities. (SED)

Examines the effects of age on hearing children's oral rather than written story production and whether there are age-related changes in the signed productions of deaf children comparable to those observed in hearing age-mates. (HOD)

Explains the whole language teaching strategy. Shows what to expect in classrooms of whole language advocates. Describes curriculum guides based on the approach. (EL)

Findings indicate that the language of characters from children's television programs, both educational and commercial, is clearly gender-differentiated, producing attributions that are consistent with sex-role stereotypes. (PD)

Illustrates how all of the language arts are used by teachers and students to uncover the imaginative potential of language and their creative potential. Models ways of thinking about and investigating how instructional experiences, including classroom activities and the ways teachers interact with students, affect learning. (HTH)

Suggests that limited English speaking students' oral language can be developed by using pictures and concrete referents and then by using the language experience approach to teach English reading. (FL)

Assesses extent and nature of cutss made in the version of Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" used in a 1980 Harcourt, Brace and World anthology. Suggests that rather than serving to shorten or clarify the play as claimed by the editor, cuts were actually made to clean up the text and eliminate any passages with a sexual connotation. (RBW)

Argues that in language development, children display a sustained and conscious effort to learn (L) words and expressions, assimilate (A) the language system, and acquire fluency (F) in using it to communicate. Maintains the same is true in literacy development. (FL)

Relies on a study of articles on agronomy and engineering to argue that teachers of technical style need to examine more closely the structures used by technical writers, particularly subordinate clauses that may be a means of distinguishing the "languages" of various technical disciplines. (EL)